Just Another Normal Day
by leamichelesarfati
Summary: Lea and Cory face each other for the first time since she got engaged.
1. Chapter 1

It was a normal day. Really. Nothing was happening. Lea woke up and admired the ring on her finger, then cuddled with her cat Sheila for a few minutes before finally getting up and ready to go to work. Once at work she recited her words perfectly for twelve hours, then went home. She made herself a cup of coffee because it was her favorite late night drink, and even though it was getting pretty late, she kicked up her feet and turned on the TV for the first time in a week.

That's when her day was interrupted. That's when suddenly it became a not so normal day and a chaotic mess instead, all because the doorbell rang. That's always what he brought with him, though – a mess. A mess that the two of them clearly had no idea how to clean up nor had they learned from it, because in the long run, one of them always came back.

Lea groaned, but got up anyway and headed to the door. She was tired and cranky and honestly whoever had the nerve to ring her doorbell at eleven o'clock at night was pretty damn gutsy, because she couldn't make any promises that she wouldn't kill them. But when she opened her door, she froze at the figure standing on her porch.

"You're engaged," He breathed.

Lea stared at him shocked. His chocolate brown eyes, his messy hair, his stupid plaid button up; it was all there. He was all there, standing in the dim light of her front porch.

Finally, Lea comprehend what Cory had said, curtly nodding. "I am."

"To him?"

Lea looked down, nodding again. Every memory of her first love crossed through her mind. His soft lips, the tenderness when he kissed her, the way she poured her soul out to him... The man in front of her wasn't that boy anymore and she found that incredibly disheartening, because man, did she love that boy.

She wasn't trying to be rude with her short responses; she just didn't know what to do. His visit was – as always – completely unexpected and a teensy bit inappropriate, and the tension was there. Lea wanted to do so many things all at the same time. So, due to her speechlessness, she simply nodded once again, confirming his question, "To Mark,"

Cory hesitated, and she knew he was trying to keep his comment and hurt inside of him so she didn't have to see it, but as expected, it eventually came out.

"What about me?"

Lea closed her eyes.

"What about _me_, Cory?" she asked, desperation lacing through the question.

He stared at her and neither of them were sure what to say. She couldn't look at him, because if she did she knew she'd get tears in her eyes. And If she got tears in her eyes she'd cry again. She couldn't cry again, not over him. She promised herself she would never cry over him again.

"I always thought it'd be you and me forever."

Lea opened her mouth, and then closed it again. There was so much to say. The two of them had so many things that they could talk about, so many ways that they could easily fall in love again.

"I have to go," she whispered.

His hand stopped her from slamming the door in his face. "You loved me once...didn't you?"

The doubt was in his eyes. He had trouble believing the connection the two of them once had. Lea's heart fell at the pure innocence in his eyes, the disbelief that was there. It was so long ago that now it seemed like a dream. But it wasn't a dream, because if it were, she wouldn't feel so horrible every day of her life.

"I loved you more than anything," she confirmed.

"Then why?" he begged. It's the question he'd wondered for quite awhile now. "Why not me?"

Lea squeezed her eyes shut, as she tried to block him out. She didn't want to have another flashback – all she kept having lately was flashbacks of how perfect things used to be. _She was tricking herself_. It wasn't all roses and sunshine with Cory, it was dirty weeds and rainclouds too. In fact, it was rarely ever a good day. So why did they look so much better now?

"I'll always love you more, but I'm better without you."

His eyes fell. After all these years, one of them had finally said the truth. Those are the words that both of them had needed to hear for quite some time now. His eyes looked down and caught the ring on her finger and for a moment Lea swore there were tears in his eyes.

"So, this is it, then?" he asked.

Suddenly Lea couldn't face him. She couldn't meet his eyes because she knew that if she did she'd take him back in an instant, and she couldn't. She loved it when he was here, but she knew she was better when he was gone. And that fact killed her more than anything, because the way she loved him... No one could understand.

"You're invited, if you want to come," she tried to stay strong.

Cory shook his head. "We both know that's not a wedding I'd go to."

She could accept that. In all honesty, she'd never be able to go to his wedding either. If she did she knew she wouldn't be able to control herself. She would make a scene again and his mother would hate her even more. They all must hate her. The family that was once her second family was now the family that she was sure bashes her at the dinner table.

"I'm sorry," she told him honestly.

"You love him," he shrugged "I hope he makes you happy, Lea."

"I'm not apologizing for the wedding, because I know that needs to happen," she murmured, softly. "Everything I did... I'm sorry."

He nodded. "You're finally happy. Don't apologize for that."

Cory turned away to leave, but before he could Lea called out to him again. He turned around and she hesitated, but just when he was about to walk away forever she found the right words.

"I really wish it could have been you."

He quickly faced the ground and Lea knew she was making him show his emotions and she knew just how much he hated that. "Me too."

Then, he turned around and walked to his car, fiddling with his phone for a moment before pulling out of her driveway for the last time. Lea heard her phone beep from the kitchen and went get it, tears finally falling when she read the message.

_I would have picked you. Always has been you, always will be. I hope he makes you happy, Lea. I really, really do._

Out of all the sad messages he'd ever sent her, this one hit the hardest by far. And as she was alone, she did what she promised herself the day she got engaged she would never do again. She fell to the ground right there, curled up in a ball, and broke down because this was the only way she could handle it.

She loved it when he was here. She was just better when he was gone.

And that fact killed her. It killed her softly, and killed her slowly, but no doubt, it killed her. Because no matter what, she'd always love him just a little bit more.


	2. Chapter 2

_7 months had passed since their encounter at Lea's house that late night in August. They had spoke, but barely. Her wedding was finally upcoming._

* * *

"Dude, shouldn't you be getting ready?"

Cory turned slightly at the voice, raising a brow curiously when Kevin leaned against the bar. He snapped his attention away from the beer in his hand and glanced at his friend.

"Huh?"

Kevin rolled his eyes, "Lea's wedding?"

Cory licked his lips and blinked a couple of times as he glanced away to the ground, "Yeah, I'm not going to that." He shook his head and shrugged as though it was nothing.

"Seriously?"

Cory stuffed his hand into his pocket and grabbed a couple more dollars for another beer, "What?"

"Nothing, man. I just can't believe you're letting her marry that dweeb." Kevin attempted with a slight chuckle.

Cory sighed and grabbed his half empty glass, "Yeah, well, what she chooses to do is her problem. Not mine. We're done."

Kevin patted his shoulder with a smirk, "Dude, I don't know about her, but you're far from done." He said as he walked away, leaving Cory to ponder his thoughts.

What the hell does that mean? He had no idea what he was talking about.

He had moved on, he was sure of it. He'd gotten over it, over her, and now they'd both moved on with their lives and relationships. Now they were back to being friends, just as they were before. Well, not exactly, but probably as close as they could get without actually getting close.

They were not best friends anymore, he realized that, but he was happy that they'd gotten past all of the awkwardness, all of the drama. He was happy for her, he was happy that she was happy.

Or at least he convinced himself that he was, because he knew that deep down he was not willing to admit what he was really feeling.

Because it was scary.

He wasn't even sure what he felt for her anymore, but the ache in his gut told him that it wasn't good, that it was definitely frightening, and that he should just push the feeling aside and let her get on with her life.

With her Prince Charming. With her fairytale. With her wedding.

But then his heart started thumping and his mind started reeling, and he was back to doubling over in pain at the thought of her leaving him behind.

It scared him.

The image of her walking down a white aisle and meeting another man at the end scared him to death, and he was only now just realizing it. The thought of her marrying another man, of her handing herself over, scared him. The picture in his head of somebody else touching her body, the body that he claimed as his possession time and time again, haunted him.

He lightly shuddered at the thought, closing his eyes tight and unintentionally balling his fists.

She was his, they were the only words that coursed through his brain over and over again; she was his. She belonged to him, and he belonged to her.

The idea of losing her to somebody else scared the crap out of him, but he remembered some wise words that were once spoken to him.

_Even if you're scared._

His Brothers voice lingered in his ear and he sighed, rubbing his hands against the back of his neck.

_You say it, and you say it loud._

And then it all came crashing down on him.

He was in love with her.

He wasn't over her, no matter how hard he tried to deny it or rebuff the feeling. He hadn't moved on, despite his many attempts to convince himself that his relationship with Lucy was anything but a distraction.

And she had been smart, she had left when she had realized that she wasn't going to get anything more from him. She had figured out that he wasn't ever going to fall for her because his heart was already in the hands of some brown eyed beauty with a tendency to change her mind, and he was only now realizing it himself.

He was in love with Lea

And he was scared. To lose her. To give up on her when she never wanted him to. But he did, he gave up on her, he didn't fight for her, and he tried to tell himself that it was because she didn't want him to, but then her words from the night of the storm rushed back to mind and he was back to square one.

She wanted him to fight. She wanted him. She wanted him to want her.

And he did, he always had. But he was just too much of a coward to realize it.

He wasn't willing to admit to himself that he wanted her back then because he never allowed himself to believe that she'd truly move on. He never thought that he'd actually see the day that she married another man. That she'd leave him forever.

He couldn't lose her, he told her. He couldn't. Because without her, then he didn't know who he was.

She'd always been his Lea, his perky and nervous best friend who usually talked too much or said the wrong thing. She was the Lea who kept him in place and never let him get too proud and always reminded him of who he really was at heart.

She was his Lea. She was his.

He couldn't imagine her marrying somebody else because, for the past year and a half, he'd had a vision in his head of a big house with a white picket fence, and her tiny and tan body standing behind it waiting for him with a smile on her face.

And they would be married. And they would have kids. And a yard. And a dog. And they'd be happy, and together, and it'd be perfect.

But his vision was ruined when he got replaced by some dorky paramedic with a heart of gold and the virtue of a saint.

He wouldn't be able to give her the wedding she always wanted. He wouldn't be able to give her a field, with butterflies and mints.

No, instead, it would be the paramedic with a heart of gold and the virtue of a saint that gave her all of those things, that gave her everything she always wanted from him.

And all because he was too much of a coward to admit to her, and to himself, that he wanted her, that he loved her, that he was in love with her.

And his brothers words continue to ring inside his brain.

If he had just been able to accept her for everything she was, for all of her flaws, when they were together, then he wouldn't be in this place.

He wouldn't feel like crap, like his heart was being ripped out.

He wouldn't want to murder the guy stood beside him, gushing about how adorable his wife and 3 kids were.

_Her, his. Lea, his Lea._

_Not_ Mark's.

_Even if you're scared._

And he wasn't so scared anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

_The day of the wedding_

* * *

The whole world seemed to stop around her.

The audience stopped muttering, the wind outside stopped blowing. Goosebumps creeped up her bare arms and her throat tightened.

"Cory" She said, as her eyes widened and her hands began to shake.

She remained in place, her hands resting by her sides and her full attention focused straight on the man in front of her.

Cory frowned and his mouth drawed into a line as he watched her. His gaze shifted down to her dress and he softly smiled, licking his lips and blinking a couple of times.

He stood at the end of the aisle, the doors still swinging in the background after his hurried entrance.

He hadn't planned to barge in like this, to intrude on the moment. He'd expected to find her in her dressing room, to find her nervously shaking in a corner somewhere, not already stood beside her groom and priest and waiting for him to speak.

He thanked himself for changing into a tux on the way, and not rolling up in his scrubs or a pair of jeans and a shirt.

It was already disrespectful enough, he thought, as he felt a woman's deep eyes shooting daggers at him.

"I-" He cut himself short and took a deep breath and carelessly threw his hands down at his sides.

"What are you doing?" Lea asked, her expression shocked and of complete bewilderment. Her eyes never left his as she chewed on her bottom lip and tried to ignore the angry look on Mark's face. Whatever he was feeling was the least of her worries at the moment.

Cory could make out the sound of Naya's voice in the crowd, whispering something quickly and holding back a laugh.

He now realized how stupid he was. He was interrupting the most important moment of her life, and all for himself. She obviously didn't want him here, she obviously didn't want him anymore because otherwise she wouldn't be this close to marrying someone else. But he was going to fight anyway, because he promised his brother that he would. So, he swallowed his pride and took a deep breath.

He wasn't sure what to say to explain himself, to justify his actions. He shrugged slowly, gently frowning as he felt tears swelling in his eyes. "I'm in love with you, Lea- I'm giving you a reason."

He couldn't cry, he fought, he couldn't. He couldn't let himself.

But he couldn't let her walk away from him again, at least not without giving it his best shot.

Lea's face softened and she gasped with a sob. She just stared at him, lifting her veil and taking a sharp breath as she stepped down from the podium.

_He was scared again._

She nervously bit down on her lip as she stepped away from her groom, her hands tightly clasping the sides of her long white dress.

She was aware of the eyes on her, her co-workers grins and the frown adorning her mother's face.

"Dianna, who is that?" The old Sarfati quietly asked her daughter's bridesmaid, stood in place by the altar.

Dianna softly smiled and shrugged, "The guy she should be marrying."

Lea ignored their conversation and continued her walk back down the aisle. She zoomed past Cory and slipped through the wooden doors at the end of the barn.

The outside air was cool against her skin and she walked around the side of the building, tossing her head back against the surface and letting out a loud cry.

What the hell was happening?

She thought that this had been it. This was the end. He didn't want her when she'd pleaded. He didn't give her a second thought when he'd moved on with Stephanie. He'd never given her a sign to believe that he felt differently than how he was acting.

She had thought that he had moved on, that he had gotten over her, over them ever being together.

And she was slowly starting to convince herself that she was, that she was over him. And now he'd gone and surprised her like this.

"Do you want me to do anything?" She glanced up at the sound of her best friends voice and swallowed a breath.

Dianna folded her arms over her chest and sighed,

"I think that leaving the building probably wasn't the best idea."

Lea glared at her, "What would you have liked me to do?" She shook her head and brought a hand up to her hair to remove her veil.

Dianna lent a hand and slowly pulled the cloth out from the small tiara on her head. She straightened Lea's hair gently and smiled down at her best friend, "You could go back in there..."

The petite brown haired beauty declined her suggestion and anxiously toyed with the veil. "No. I - I can't do this. Okay? I can't."

Dianna frowned and leaned back against the barn beside her, "You can't do what? Marry Mark or leave with Cory?"

Lea licked her lips and closed her eyes. She sighed, "Any of it. I can't do it."

"Well," Dianna started, and began pulling Lea into a hug when she looked like she was about to collapse. "You have a pretty nice guy in there waiting to see if you want to marry him or not." Lea pulled away and threw her shoulders back as Dianna continued, "And then there's a guy who's waiting to see if you love him back."

"What am I supposed to do?"

Dianna shrugged with a faint smile, "If if were me, and believe me I would love for it to be, I'd go with my heart."

"But what if that's the safe choice?"

"Then it's definitely the right one."

Lea nodded slowly, and took a second to gather herself before she brushed her hands along the sides of her dress and took a deep breath, "Okay."

They proceeded to make their way back into the building, and Dianna stayed back as Lea marched up to the altar, her gaze flickering over to Cory's saddened expression.

She stepped over to him quietly and whispered, "I think you might have won."

Stood at the back of the barn, Cory only briefly glanced down at Dianna before turning back towards Lea, who pulled Mark behind the altar and away from the guests.

"I think I just lost her." He replied back in a barely-there tone, his voice broke as he quickly turned away to leave the building.

Dianna watched him walk away, her eyes wide and her mouth agape.

She had assumed that Lea would have chosen him.

"Don't leave." She attempted to stop him, catching up with him and grasping his arm, "Look, she's just in shock, is all. I know my best friend, all right? And I know that it took some balls to do what you just did, and I know how she thinks. You won, she wants you."

He'd always been a sore-loser, and always been one to give up easily.

"Then where is she?" He asked and raised a brow before slipping past the entrance door and leaving it to sway behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

He drank his troubles away that evening.

He wasn't drunk, but he was on his fourth glass of scotch and his head was killing him.

How stupid, he thought. How foolish and childish of him to barge in on her wedding day and profess his undying love for her. How cheesy, how sappy. How freaking stupid could he get, he asked himself as he swallowed another sip of the rough liquid.

He had tried, though, he congratulated himself. At least he had attempted to change her mind, to stop her from making the biggest mistake of her life.

But maybe that hadn't been the biggest mistake of her life. Maybe _he_ had been.

Maybe it was all a sign that they never should have happened in the first place. Maybe it was a message from God or whoever that he was feeling this way as payback for messing with her heart.

Maybe he never should have tried to fight for her.

He downed another sip and closed his eyes as he placed the glass back down on his kitchen counter. His apartment was quiet, aside from the noise of cars driving by outside. He leant forward against the island, letting his head drop into his hands.

How the hell had things gotten so screwed up?

He was supposed to win her over, and take her home, and show her just how much he loved her, and apologize profoundly for not realizing it sooner. He wasn't supposed to come home after five minutes, slip off his jacket and tux pants and hang around drinking in his shirt and tie with a headache and a numbness in his chest.

She was supposed to be with him.

Although, maybe she wasn't.

Cory snapped out of his thoughts once the bell to his apartment rang, not even bothering to check who it was before buzzing them in and up to his place. He guessed that it was probably Kevin or Jared coming to torment him a little bit more, as if the dozen of joking messages hadn't been enough to remind him of his foolishness.

A soft knocking on his door made him stand up straight and he rolled his eyes as the knocking didn't stop. "I'm coming, will you chill out?!"

He groaned as he pulled the door open, his gaze fell on the petite brown haired girl standing in the doorway.

She glanced up at his face silently, biting on her bottom lip and letting her shoulders drop with a soft smile.

"You left."

He nodded and rested a hand against the door frame.

He couldn't invite her in after what had happened. He just couldn't allow himself.

"You didn't leave me a choice."

Lea sighed and paused for a moment before speaking up again, "I picked you, you know." She shrugged and stared up at the doorway for a second before catching his attention again, "I chose you, and then when I went to find you, Dianna told me that you left. Why did you leave?'

"I thought you chose him."

He backed away from the door and let her inside, glancing down at her outfit. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a light pink shirt, and her hair was still pinned back like it was earlier.

"I would never choose him over you."

Cory closed the door as she walked through behind him, "That's never stopped you before." He muttered and she sighed.

"You know what? Yes, I did choose him before, but it's only because you didn't know what you wanted! I needed a little reassurance and a little guidance and you just played with me and didn't say anything. Did you want me then? Or did you just send me back to him because you were scared?"

He didn't know how she got so good at reading him. But then he remembered that they had been best friends for three years before anything had happened between them.

"Lea-"

"I was scared, too, alright? I didn't know what I was doing, and I'd never felt like that before. And then I tell you that I want you, only you, and you tell me to stop messing with you and make up my mind. So, yes, I did. I made up my mind, I chose him back then because you didn't want me. Or maybe you did but you just had a hard time showing it."

She paced the living room and stopped her gaze down on the bottle of Scotch resting on his kitchen counter. She walked over to the bottle and poured a little more of the beverage in his glass before she took a sip.

He frowned and licked his lips as he watched her.

"What are you doing?"

"I am having a drink! Because you infuriate me!" She finished the drink and swallowed a deep breath when he came closer to her. He stopped in front of her and pushed the glass away from her. "I chose you." She repeated and casted her attention down to the wooden floor.

Cory nodded. He pulled the loosened bow tie away from his neck and dropped it away on the floor.

She watched it fall with a grin and glanced back up at him.

"And I- Uh... I-" She started and then nervously stepped from one foot to the other with a deep breath, "I love you, too." She smiled sadly and dropped her arms as she tilted her head to the side, "I'm in love with you, too."

"You chose me?" He questioned as if he didn't already know the answer and her smile grew.

Lea nodded and looked back up at his face passionately, "I chose you."

"Yeah. Well, I chose you, too."

"It took you long enough." She grinned as he chuckled and circled an arm around her waist to pull her against him.

She bit her lip as she glanced down at his body, "You're not wearing any pants."

He smirked and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "Yeah, I kinda took them off in anger after I left."

"You should have waited for me. Dianna had to give me a ride here." She raised a brow and placed her hands flat against his chest.

Cory placed his hands on her hips and leant his forehead against hers, "I think we've done enough waiting."

Lea giggled and melted into him when he finally kissed her, his hands sliding up and down her sides slowly and her fists gathering the material of his shirt.

"I'm really glad you stopped me today." She whispered when they pulled away.

He beamed down at her, "Well I had to say something."


End file.
